BLOOD RED marks the beginning of a new trilogy for veteran thriller scribe Wendy Corsi Staub and signifies yet another new high-water mark for her.

The book introduces Mundy’s Landing to Staub’s universe, a small, long-established municipality tucked into New York’s Hudson Valley. Its Christmas greeting card setting belies its grim history, which goes back to the 17th century and includes cannibalism, as well as a trio of murders a hundred years ago that remain unsolved. While this history doesn’t add to the town’s charm, it does give it a bit of added cache for tourist purposes. And, of course, real people with real problems and real secrets live there. Staub thrives on creating characters like these and then slowly peeling back their veneers to reveal the actions of the past that cause them worry --- and worse --- in the present, and does so to especially strong and riveting effect here.

"BLOOD RED is a conundrum in the best possible way: you won’t want it to end, but you’ll race to the conclusion.... If you have never read Staub’s work or haven’t read her recently, this is the book to get and put at the top of your reading list."

Rowan Mundy is the primary focus of BLOOD RED. Rowan is the mother of three, the youngest of whom is still at home but ready to flee the nest all too soon as well. She is married to Jake, a descendent of one of the town’s founders. The Mundys returned to Mundy’s Landing some 14 years ago when their children were quite young, dissatisfied with the lifestyle of the New York metropolitan area and the demands of Jake’s work, which left them feeling as if they were ships passing in the night. This brought Rowan to the brink of an affair, a near-misstep that she vowed never to repeat again. Now she teaches school while Jake works at a less financially rewarding sales job. Their life is relaxed and comfortably disorganized, until Rowan receives a fateful package that contains reminders of her near-unfaithfulness.

Unknown to Rowan, her every move is being observed by a shadowy figure who we know only as “Casey” but is circling Rowan and her family in ever-smaller circles while committing an occasional murder here and there. Actually, as a pair of NYPD homicide cops figure out, it’s a bit more than occasional, and Casey is following a pattern. The police, of course, have no idea that their unknown subject is circling Rowan, who continues to leave little reminders of her past here and there and even does a creepy-crawl through the Mundy family home.

Staub, of course, keeps Casey’s identity a secret, though she does drop a clue a bit past the midway point of the story that you will miss if you blink or are a speed reader. She also sprinkles newspaper clippings from the last few decades throughout the book, which give the reader an impression, historical and otherwise, not only of Mundy’s Landing but also of what has happened before in the lives of some of the characters. In the foreground, though, Staub keeps the clock ticking, and it gets louder and faster as the pages wind down to a heart-stopping conclusion.

BLOOD RED is a conundrum in the best possible way: you won’t want it to end, but you’ll race to the conclusion. As a bonus, the first few pages of BLUE MOON, the next installment in the series, is included in the back. If you have never read Staub’s work or haven’t read her recently, this is the book to get and put at the top of your reading list.